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When Robbie Findley knotted the scoreline in the 33rd minute on Aug. 7, 2010, at the old CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan., an equivalent to that equalizing goal wouldn't be found for nearly six years.
It finally was Saturday night, on the head of a 19-year-old Real Salt Lake Homegrown center back. Justen Glad, making his first start of the 2016 season, pushed a header off the turf at Children's Mercy Park and into the back of the net, signifying an early lead for a makeshift RSL lineup, but also a distinct sign of progress.
Minus five starters and down a total of 10 first-teamers for various reasons against Sporting Kansas City, RSL's depth put on the kind of early-season display necessary to once again vouch as a team to be reckoned with down the line.
"I don't know if we learned something about ourselves or if [the rest of the league] learned something about our team," said RSL right back Tony Beltran, who donned the captain's armband in the 2-1 win at Sporting KC. "I think that the guys know they're capable of this and we believed in ourselves, and that's probably why we're on such a high right now."
Handing a Western Conference nemesis its first loss of the year on its home turf is a sizable cherry on top.
"For this group of guys," RSL coach Jeff Cassar said, "I'm really happy."
Glad's header in the 29th minute broke a 417-minute scoreless streak in KC dating to Findley's equalizer in 2010 when Glad was all of 13 years old.
The goal from Glad, which was followed by a 30-yard low, curling shot by midfielder Luke Mulholland to double the lead in the 79th minute, showcased what a year ago RSL was lacking.
Depth that could handle the kind of pressure presented Saturday at Sporting KC.
When undermanned last season due to injuries, national-team duty or suspensions, RSL's provisional lineups were too often skinned on the road in lopsided results. Cassar's group proved to feature such ideal balances that weren't part of the equation in 2015.
"Obviously we had a lot of key players out," Beltran said. "But over the course of the season, that's going to happen. No starting XI is going to play all 34 games. We have a lot of confidence in our depth. We had a lot of confidence in the guys that were playing tonight, and this result is a testament to that."
RSL, now the lone unbeaten club in the Western Conference at 2-0-2, returns home to play three of its next four at Rio Tinto Stadium, starting with rival Colorado Rapids on Saturday in Sandy.
For youngsters like Glad, the goal and the win goes a little beyond the current West standings. He remembered the MLS Cup final at Sporting KC during his last year at the RSL academy in Casa Grande, Ariz., and played against Sporting KC in Sandy a year ago.
"You can tell when you're on the field there's kind of a disliking of each other," Glad said. "So this game was massive for us, and it felt good."
Twitter: @chriskamrani —
Colorado Rapids at Real Salt Lake
P Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
TV • KMYU